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Goblet of Fire
Production Notes
Please note that this section contains Spoilers
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information below. *
~ Final Production Information
Difficult times lie ahead for Harry Potter.
Beset by nightmares that leave his scar hurting more than usual, Harry (DANIEL
RADCLIFFE) is all too happy to escape his disturbing dreams by attending the
Quidditch World Cup with his friends Ron (RUPERT GRINT) and Hermione (EMMA
WATSON).
But something sinister ignites the skies at the Quidditch campsite – the Dark
Mark, the sign of the evil Lord Voldemort. It’s conjured by his followers, the
Death Eaters, who haven’t dared to appear in public since Voldemort (RALPH
FIENNES) was last seen thirteen years ago – the night he murdered Harry’s
parents.
Harry longs to get back inside the safe walls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft
and Wizardry, where Professor Dumbledore (MICHAEL GAMBON) can protect him. But
things are going to be a little different this year.
Dumbledore announces that Hogwarts will host the Triwizard Tournament, one of
the most exciting and dangerous of the wizarding community’s magical
competitions. One champion will be selected from each of the three largest and
most prestigious wizarding schools to compete in a series of life-threatening
tasks in pursuit of winning the coveted Triwizard Cup.
The Hogwarts students watch in awe as the elegant girls of the Beauxbatons
Academy and the dark and brooding boys of Durmstrang Institute fill the Great
Hall, breathlessly awaiting the selection of their champions.
Ministry of Magic official Barty Crouch (ROGER LLOYD PACK) and Professor
Dumbledore preside over a candlelit ceremony fraught with anticipation as the
enchanted Goblet of Fire selects one student from each school to compete.
Amidst a hail of sparks and flames, the cup names Durmstrang’s Quidditch
superstar Victor Krum (STANISLAV IANEVSKI), followed by Beauxbatons’ exquisite
Fleur Delacour (CLÉMENCE POÉSY) and finally, Hogwarts’ popular all-around golden
boy Cedric Diggory (ROBERT PATTINSON). But then, inexplicably, the Goblet spits
out one final name: Harry Potter.
At just 14 years old, Harry is three years too young to enter the grueling
competition. He insists that he didn’t put his name in the Goblet and that he
really doesn’t want to compete. But the Goblet’s decision is binding, and
compete he must.
Suspicion and jealousy abound as muckraking journalist Rita Skeeter (MIRANDA
RICHARDSON) fans the flames of the Harry Potter backlash with her outrageous
gossip columns. Even Ron begins to believe his “fame seeking” friend somehow
tricked the cup into selecting him.
Suspecting that whoever did enter Harry’s name in the Tournament deliberately
wants to put him in grave danger, Dumbledore asks Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody
(BRENDAN GLEESON), the eccentric new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, to
keep his highly perceptive and magical eye trained on the teenage wizard.
Harry prepares for the challenging Triwizard tasks – evading a fire-breathing
dragon, diving into the depths of a great lake and navigating a maze with a life
of its own. But nothing is more daunting than the most terrifying challenge of
them all – finding a date for the Yule Ball.
For Harry, dealing with dragons, merpeople and grindylows is a walk in the park
compared to asking the lovely Cho Chang (KATIE LEUNG) to the Yule Ball. And if
Ron weren’t so distracted, perhaps he would acknowledge a change in his feelings
for Hermione.
Events take an ominous turn when someone is murdered on Hogwarts grounds.
Scared and still haunted by dreams of Voldemort, Harry turns to Dumbledore. But
even the venerable Headmaster admits that there are no longer any easy answers.
As Harry and the other champions battle through their last task and the
advancing tendrils of the ominous maze, someone or something is keeping a
watchful eye. Victory is in sight, but as they edge closer to the Triwizard Cup,
all is not as it seems – and Harry soon finds himself hurtling head-first toward
an inevitable encounter with true evil...
* * *
Warner Bros. Pictures presents a Heyday Films production of a
Mike Newell film, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, starring DANIEL
RADCLIFFE, RUPERT GRINT, EMMA WATSON, ROBBIE COLTRANE, RALPH FIENNES, MICHAEL
GAMBON, BRENDAN GLEESON, JASON ISAACS, GARY OLDMAN, ALAN RICKMAN, MAGGIE SMITH
and TIMOTHY SPALL.
Directed by MIKE NEWELL, the film is produced by DAVID HEYMAN from a screenplay
by STEVE KLOVES, based on the novel by J.K. ROWLING. The executive producers
are DAVID BARRON and TANYA SEGHATCHIAN. The director of photography is ROGER
PRATT, BSC; the production designer is STUART CRAIG; the editor is MICK AUDSLEY;
the co-producer is PETER MacDONALD; the costume designer is JANY TEMIME; and the
music is by PATRICK DOYLE.
This film has been rated “PG-13” by the MPAA for “sequences of fantasy violence
and frightening images.”
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire will be released on
November 18, 2005 by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment
Company.
www.harrypotter.com
* * *
YEAR FOUR: CHAMPIONS &
CHALLENGES
The
most exhilarating and difficult times of his life await Harry Potter as he
returns to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for his fourth year of
study in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the fourth film adaptation
of J.K. Rowling’s immensely popular Harry Potter novel series.
Not
only must Harry compete in a dangerous international tournament that pits him
against his older and more experienced peers, but he will also be forced to
confront his nemesis, the evil Lord Voldemort, who is determined to return to
power – and finish Harry off once and for all. This harrowing news pales only
in comparison to Harry’s genuine anxiety over having to find a date for
Hogwarts’ Yule Ball.
The
school year will also bring significant changes for Harry’s best friends Ron and
Hermione, who may finally acknowledge a change in their feelings for each
other. Meanwhile, as the teens deal with the onset of hormonal angst, romance
blossoms among the adults too – when sparks fly between Harry’s trusted advisor
Hagrid and Madame Maxime, the statuesque headmistress of the Beauxbatons
Academy.
“This is one of the most challenging of all the films,” notes David Heyman,
producer of the Harry Potter film series. “We needed someone who could
direct a dark and suspenseful thriller, drive exhilarating action sequences and
yet at the same time, be intuitive and sensitive to the comic angst of being a
teenager. You’ve only got to look at films as diverse as Dance with a
Stranger, Donnie Brasco and Four Weddings and a Funeral to
appreciate that there are very few directors as skilled and multi-talented as
Mike Newell.”
“For me, the essence of this story is a thriller,” Newell says. “There are
wonderful set pieces, from the excitement of the Triwizard Tournament to the
humor and heartbreak of the Yule Ball, but driving the story is this marvelous
thriller in which something truly evil is out to get Harry – and only he has the
power to do something about it.”
Portending the danger to come, as the story begins, Harry is beset by an eerie
nightmare that leaves his notorious lightning bolt scar searing with pain. His
pain turns to bone-chilling dread at the Quidditch World Cup, where Lord
Voldemort’s fearsome followers, the Death Eaters, scorch the night sky with the
wicked wizard’s Dark Mark, publicly heralding their leader for the first time
since his disappearance thirteen years ago.
Not
even Hogwarts’ venerable Headmaster Dumbledore is certain what to make of these
mysterious events. In an effort to establish ties between the three largest
European schools of wizardry, Dumbledore announces that Hogwarts will host the
Triwizard Tournament, a thrilling competition that welcomes students and
teachers from two other European wizarding schools to live and study at Hogwarts
for the school year.
“Dumbledore is trying to prepare the wizarding world for the dark times ahead,”
Heyman observes. “His gesture also underscores a theme of the film, which is
learning to get along with people who are different from you. If they’re good,
it doesn’t matter where they’re from.”
Due to the life-threatening risks inherent in the Triwizard competition, Barty
Crouch, the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, decrees
that no student under the age of 17 may enter – precluding 14 year old Harry and
his friends from participating. But when the magical Goblet of Fire selects one
champion from each of the three wizarding schools to compete in the Tournament,
it stuns everyone by naming a fourth: Harry Potter.
Despite Harry’s protests, the Goblet’s decision is binding, and he has no
choice but to compete in the grueling Tournament against older students with far
superior wizarding skills.
“What I really like about Harry is that he’s not a hero in the classic sense, a
brave all-conquering Superman,” says Daniel Radcliffe, who watched thrillers
like North by Northwest at Newell’s suggestion in preparation for
filming. “Harry’s vulnerable. He’s scared. Even though he’s helped so many
people, I think he’s always yearned to leave his past behind him and let the
‘hero’ thing end. But when his name comes out of the Goblet, he’s instantly
back in the limelight again. Not only does he have to cope with criticism from
everyone, he also knows he didn’t put his name in the Goblet – so someone else
must have.”
When Harry turns to his trusted mentor for guidance and
protection, he is surprised to discover that Dumbledore himself is struggling to
uncover the meaning of these mysterious events. “Harry’s world is completely
shaken,” says Radcliffe. “For the first time, Harry sees Dumbledore as an old
man who is no longer at the height of his abilities, and it’s very unsettling.
Something or someone has infiltrated Hogwarts and is trying to get to him, but
Dumbledore doesn’t know what it is, where it’s coming from or how to stop it.”
“Dumbledore is no longer in control and he’s frightened,” says Michael Gambon,
who reprises his role as the highly respected Headmaster in Harry Potter and
the Prisoner of Azkaban. “He carries tremendous weight on his shoulders,
ensuring the safety and well-being of the students, and when evil penetrates
Hogwarts, he doesn’t know how to deal with it.”
Suspecting that whoever put Harry’s name in the Goblet didn’t intend for
him to win the Tournament, Dumbledore asks Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody,
Hogwarts’ eccentric new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, to keep his
highly perceptive eye trained on the teenage wizard until they discover the true
meaning of these ominous events.
Moody is a legendary Auror, or dark wizard catcher, credited with filling half
the cells at Azkaban prison with Voldemort’s followers. But years of fighting
evil on the front lines have taken their toll. Battle scarred and verging on
paranoid, Moody relies on his magical, all-seeing blue eye to help him thwart
the evil he sees lurking in every shadow.
“Moody is a gunslinger with a wand,” says Brendan Gleeson, the versatile actor
known for his powerful performances in films such as Braveheart, Cold
Mountain, Troy and The Gangs of New York. “He’s someone who
has chased the demons away from goodness to the extent that he’s gotten quite
warped by it. One of the things Mike Newell suggested when we first discussed
the character was that Moody’s great wounds have damaged him greatly. It’s a
very interesting arc to play with this character, who comes into Hogwarts as
death warmed over and grows into someone the kids learn to trust.”
There is a method to Moody’s madness, though his irreverent brand of tough love
often terrifies his students and draws criticism from his peers. “What appealed
to me about the character,” says Gleeson thoughtfully, “is that he
reminds me of some of my old teachers. He has no time for book learning or
pussy-footing about. He wants to show these young men and women what they’re up
against – evil exists and they better know what they’re getting themselves
into. He’s a one-man initiation ceremony, a walking rite-of-passage. He
doesn’t believe in treading lightly with Harry or the other students because
that won’t prepare them for the real world.”
As
Moody attempts to protect Harry from the mysterious forces threatening his life,
the teenager must contend with a hostile force of a different kind: muckraking
reporter Rita Skeeter. As unscrupulous as she is intense, Skeeter will stop at
nothing and stoop to anything for her outrageous gossip columns.
“Rita writes what people want to hear or what she thinks will keep them
reading,” says internationally acclaimed actress Miranda Richardson, whose
diverse film credits include The Hours, Sleepy Hollow,
Enchanted April and Mike Newell’s hit 1985 thriller Dance With a Stranger.
“She’ll do whatever it takes to get the story she’s already pre-written in her
head. Whenever the danger is heightened, she gets more excited. The idea of
imminent death or potential injury makes great press. And that really makes her
tick.”
Skeeter fans the flames of the Harry Potter backlash that erupts in the wake of
his dubious selection for the Triwizard Tournament, and delves deeply into his
personal life – and Hermione’s. “She’s absolutely horrible!” Emma Watson
exclaims. “Rita seems to have it in for Hermione. She highlights the
insecurities Hermione harbors about herself, like being a bookworm or the
teacher’s pet, much as Professor Trelawney did in the third film.”
It’s no surprise that the flamboyant journalist’s fashion sense is as dazzlingly
outlandish as she is. “Rita feels it’s as much her duty to dress for the
occasion as it is to tell the truth – as she sees it – for her readership,” says
Richardson. “As far as she’s concerned, she’s the only one who is
well-dressed.”
Much consideration was given to the design of Voldemort’s look, as it’s the Dark
Lord’s first appearance in full human form in the Harry Potter film
series. “When Ralph joined the cast, David Heyman said to me, You’re gonna
mess about with his face, aren’t you?” Newell recalls. “I said No, no.
Ralph can play evil. He’ll dredge it up from the inside of his psyche. Then I
went home over the weekend and thought, I really should mess about with his
face.”
Harry Potter and his fellow students watch in awe as their peers teem through
the Hogwarts halls in advance of the Triwizard Tournament: the graceful and
sophisticated girls from the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, led by the majestic
Madame Maxime, and the stoic young men of Durmstrang Institute, headed by the
enigmatic Igor Karkaroff.
During the construction of the tank system, Radcliffe and his fellow actors took
scuba diving training. “I’m not a strong swimmer, but thankfully I found
swimming underwater relatively easy,” reports Radcliffe, who started his six
months of training in a swimming pool and progressed to larger pools until he
was ready for filming in the massive tank. “The hardest thing was combining the
technical side of diving with acting. I had to remember that Harry has gills,
so he’s not actually breathing, so I had to be very careful not to let out any
air bubbles. I couldn’t see anything around me, and all I could hear was
Jamie’s disembodied voice. It was quite a bizarre experience, but I absolutely
loved it.”
The
third and final task requires the teen wizards to navigate a dense and
foreboding maze formed by tall, thick hedges and shadowy pathways choked with
mist. The champions begin their journeys at dusk, with nothing to guide them
but an eerie blue light emanating from the center of the elaborate topiary,
where the coveted Triwizard Cup awaits.
“We
endeavored to make the maze taller and bigger than any you’ve ever seen,” Craig
says. “It’s disorienting, disturbing and altogether intense!”
“The maze has a heavy steel substructure, which could literally crush the actors
if something went wrong,” Richardson cautions. “We had various failsafe devices
in place to ensure that this never happened…although when you see the fear on
the actors’ faces, I’m pretty sure it’s genuine!”
THE ADVENTURE
CONTINUES IN IMAX
Harry Potter and
the Goblet of Fire will be
released in IMAX® theatres worldwide, in addition to conventional
theatres, beginning November 18, 2005. The film has been digitally re-mastered
into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience®
with proprietary IMAX DMR® (Digital Re-mastering) technology.
This represents the seventh IMAX DMR film release from
Warner Bros. Pictures, and the second film in the Harry Potter film
franchise to be digitally re-mastered for The IMAX Experience. It follows the
successful June 2004 release of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban:
The IMAX Experience, which grossed nearly $14 million in worldwide IMAX box
office. Past Warner Bros. Pictures and IMAX collaborations have included
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The IMAX Experience, Batman Begins:
The IMAX Experience, The Polar Express: An IMAX 3D Experience, the
last two installments of the Matrix trilogy, as well as the original
production of NASCAR 3D: The IMAX Experience.
IMAX Theatres deliver images of unsurpassed clarity and
impact, and will enable audiences to experience the magic and adventure of
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on screens up to eight stories tall and
120 feet wide, surrounded by state-of-the-art digital sound. (IMAX screens can
be three times larger than the average 35mm screen, 4,500 times larger than the
average TV screen, and as wide as an NFL football field.)
“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a
film rich in scope and detail, all of which will be well served by the scope of
IMAX,” says David Heyman, producer of the Harry Potter film series. “I
have loved the immersive IMAX experience ever since I first saw Fires Of
Kuwait over ten years ago, so it is a thrill for me to have Harry Potter
shown in this exciting format.”
“We are very excited to bring the suspense, humor, action
and drama of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire to life on the
giant IMAX screen,” director Mike Newell says. “The breathtaking IMAX format
brings a whole new perspective to this marvelous story.”
The sheer size of a
15/70 film frame, combined with the unique IMAX projection technology, is key to
the extraordinary sharpness and clarity of the images projected in IMAX
theatres. The 15/70 film frame is ten times larger than a conventional 35mm
frame and three times bigger than a standard 70mm frame. IMAX projectors are
the most advanced, powerful and highest-precision projectors in the world, and
the key to their superior performance is the proprietary “Rolling Loop” film
movement. The Rolling Loop advances the film horizontally in a smooth,
wave-like motion. During projection, each frame is positioned on fixed
registration pins, and the film is held firmly against the rear element of the
lens by a vacuum. As a result, the picture and focus steadiness are far above
normal projection standards and provide outstanding image clarity.
To fully envelop IMAX theatre-goers,
the IMAX sound system is a
specially designed multi-channel stereo system that delivers superb clarity and
quality for maximum impact. The IMAX Proportional Point Source
loudspeaker system was specifically designed for IMAX Theatres and delivers
superb sound quality to every member of the audience, regardless of where they
may be seated.
There are more than 200 educational and entertaining
films in the Large Format film library, which have been enjoyed by more than 800
million people around the world.
Playing the role of young Harry Potter has won Daniel worldwide acclaim and the
Variety Club of Great Britain’s Best Newcomer Award, presented in February 2002.
In April 2002 he was also honored with the prestigious David Di Donatello Award,
presented by Italy’s Ente David Di Donatello for his superb portrayal of Harry
and for his contribution to the future of cinema.
Daniel first appeared on British television in December 1999 when he played the
young David Copperfield in BBC television’s highly acclaimed production of
David Copperfield. The drama, directed by Simon Curtis, also starred Dame
Maggie Smith who appears alongside him now as Professor McGonagall.
Prior to filming the first Harry Potter feature, he made his feature
film debut as Jamie Lee Curtis’ and Geoffrey Rush’s screen son in John Boorman’s
The Tailor of Panama.
In November and December of 2002 he was also the ‘Surprise Guest’ at several
performances of the Olivier Award-winning comedy The Play What I Wrote,
directed by Kenneth Branagh, at Wyndhams Theatre in London’s West End.
In his spare
time, Daniel’s main interests continue to be movies and music, particularly rock
and indie British bands.
17 year-old RUPERT GRINT (Ron Weasley) reprises his role as the youngest
Weasley brother and best friend to Harry Potter. Although Harry Potter and
the Sorcerer’s Stone was Rupert’s first foray into the world of professional
acting, his natural talent has garnered him worldwide critical and public
acclaim and a British Critic’s Circle nomination for Best Newcomer.
Since filming the first Harry Potter film, he has gone on to star
alongside Simon Callow and Stephen Fry as a young madcap professor in Peter
Hewitt’s Thunderpants. He, of course, most recently starred again as Ron
Weasley in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter
and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Rupert is the eldest of five children and cites many
similarities to his character of Ron, not the least having to wear hand-me-downs
and having an inexhaustible love of sweets.
Prior to winning the role of Ron Weasley, he performed in school productions and
with the local theatre drama group. Productions included the role of the
gangster Rooster in Annie, a production of Peter Pan and
Rumplestiltskin in the Grimm Tales.
He has grown immensely since audiences first welcomed him several years ago as
the impossibly cute and hilarious youngest Weasley boy – and now a mature young
man of 17, Rupert can often be found on a golf course when not on a film set.
15
year-old EMMA WATSON (Hermione Granger) reprises her superb portrayal of
the bookish but kindhearted Hermione Granger, a character who is now starting to
develop an interest in things other than books.
Playing Hermione in the first film saw Emma’s debut into the world of
professional acting, although her natural ability has been evident since an
early age.
Her brilliant performance in the role of Hermione has won Emma a huge following
throughout the world and the highly prestigious AOL award two years running for
Best Supporting Actress for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. She has also just been voted
Best New Performer for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by
the readers of Total Film magazine.
Emma continues to balance filming with her studies and school
activities and is a keen hockey, netball, tennis and rounders player, as well as
a budding athlete. She is also an art scholar and boasts the most colorful and
creative dressing room at the studio. Her other hobbies include seeing her
friends and family, traveling, dancing (street jazz, hip hop, salsa and the
introduction of ballroom dancing for her role in Harry Potter and the Goblet
of Fire ) and singing.
18 year-old TOM FELTON (Draco Malfoy) returns as Harry Potter’s
arch-enemy and Slytherin school boy Draco Malfoy, a role he has made his own in
all four of the Harry Potter films.
Tom has been acting professionally for nine years and was first seen on the big
screen in 1996 when he played the role of Peagreen in Peter Hewitt’s The
Borrowers. In 1999, he went on to play the part of Jodie Foster’s screen son
Louis in Anna and the King.
He has also appeared in a number of UK television series including Bugs,
in which he played the role of James, and Second Sight,
starring opposite Clive Owen as Thomas Ingham. He has also starred in two BBC
Radio 4 plays, playing the role of Ioeth in The Wizard of Earthsea and
Hercule in Here’s to Everyone.
Tom first came to attention in 1995 when he was featured in a
number of top television and advertising commercials. Along with displaying an
early talent for acting, he is an avid carp fisherman and loves to fish at any
opportunity.
STANISLAV IANEVSKI (Victor Krum) joins the cast of Harry Potter and the
Goblet of Fire as the Durmstrang school’s competitor for the Triwzard
Tournament cup, Victor Krum, competing against Hogwarts and the Beauxbatons.
20
year-old Bulgarian-born Stanislav was discovered quite by chance for the role of
Krum while at his British boarding school. Stanislav had been at boarding
school in the UK for four years when the Harry Potter casting director
visited his school, and quite by chance overheard him talking in a corridor.
Casting director Fiona Weir then asked the head of Drama if Stanislav would be
willing to attend an audition for the role of Victor Krum. Stanislav was
short-li |